No doubt, many will shudder in revulsion after hearing of such an honor. For a select group their anger will overflow with rage when they learn that the title was bestowed on Sherman earlier today at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. This has been an annual occurrence throughout the sesquicentennial. This year the speakers were Gary Gallagher, Harold Holzer, John Marszalek, Joe Mobley, and Craig Symonds. The results are as follows:

Sherman- 38

Cleburne- 29

Lincoln- 15

Lee & Grant- 11

Vance- 8

David Farragut (write in)- 1

Citizens (write in)- 1

Sherman is the obvious choice.

I assume Gallagher nominated, Lee; Holzer nominated Lincoln; Marszalek nominated Sherman; Symonds nominated Farragut; and Mobley nominated Cleburne. Except for Cleburne they are all obvious choices. Someone is going to have to tell me what Cleburne did to deserve such a nod and please don’t tell me it was owing to his proposal to arm slaves.

Back in November Waite Rawls and Christy Coleman announced a planned merger between Richmond’s Museum of the Confederacy and American Civil War Center. In an interview with Civil War News Rawls discussed what it means for the MOC and alluded to some of the controversy surrounding the decision:

“Will all our members support what we do in the future? No,” Rawls said. “Will some object? Yes.” “Will many more think it is great? Yes.” Rawls continued, “We have 5,000 members. My purpose as an entity is not to satisfy the least common denominator, but to do what is the best long-term good for the entirety. That’s what the CWH board will do.” “For the folks who say, ‘We wish you were only Confederate,’ we have bigger sights in mind,” he said. “We think we can do a better job educating people about the Confederacy if we tell the whole story of the Civil War.”

Using the analogy of preserving a Civil War battlefield, Rawls asked rhetorically, “How good a job would we do if we only preserved the Confederate half of it?” Noting that heritage groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans and United Daughters of the Confederacy have a different purpose than a museum, Rawls said, “Their mission is to honor their ancestors. Our mission is to use this collection to educate the public.” He acknowledged, “The heritage groups would like us to be a heritage group, but we’re not.” “People who walk in the front door may not know which century [the Civil War] happened in,” according to Rawls. “Their ancestor may have fought in a civil war in Ireland or Thailand.” He mentioned a Japanese-American man interviewed on PBS who said he didn’t understand America until he watched the Ken Burns Civil War series. “That’s a powerful thing. I want to influence people like that. That’s what this institution is for.”

I certainly don’t want to be known for casually accusing people of being racist, but I fail to see how this photograph assuages concerns. The Richmond community – who the Flaggers claim to be improving through their efforts – deserve a response to these types of statements. What exactly did the statement mean? How would this specific Flagger explain it to the individual in front of the MOC and the rest of Richmond’s black community?

Rumors of a merger between the two museums have been in the air for the past few months, but today it’s official. The Museum of the Confederacy and American Civil War Centerwill join forces to create one new museum on the grounds at Tredegar, along the James River. No one who has followed the problems plaguing the MOC over the past few years will be surprised by this decision. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Christy Coleman and Waite Rawls as public historians and as caretakers of Richmond’s rich Civil War past. With the help of individuals like Ed Ayers and others, Richmond is guaranteed a respectable and attractive new addition to its museum landscape. Continue reading →